GENEVA / SYRIA EGELAND

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09-Aug-2018
00:03:41

As Syria long-standing war appears to draw to an end, the UN’s top humanitarian advisor for the country said that diplomacy must play its role to avoid further civilian bloodshed, and that the conflict “must end not in a bloodbath but by agreements.” UNTV CH

1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“We are entering a new chapter in this very long, very bloody, very cruel, very bitter war in Syria. Hopefully we are seeing the beginning of the end to the big war”.
4. Med shot, Egeland at the podium
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“The one remaining tremendous worry is Idlib, or rather the north-west, because it is the province of Idlib - an adjacent armed opposition group area that are of our deepest concern”.
6. Wide shot, journalists with Jan Egeland
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“The war cannot be allowed to go to Idlib. Idlib is a very special place, it is the place where people fled”.
8. Med shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“This area is screaming for diplomatic solutions, it is yearning for the best diplomats, the best military negotiators to sit down between each other and come to agreements, knowing that there wouldn’t be another Idlib to be evacuated to. This is where it should end with peaceful negotiations and agreements.”
10. Close up, camera woman
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“If we say there are 4 million people there all together, you can safely assume that 3 of these million are women and children and the remaining million a small minority of those whom would be seen as terrorists. So, again, it would be no excuse for sending the war to Idlib that there are some people on terrorism lists there”.
12. Close up, hands
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“We will push Russia, Turkey, Iran which are the Astana three that have big influence, all three of them, in Idlib, as well as western countries, gulf countries who also have influence with armed opposition groups there to say: Learn from Eastern Ghouta, learn from Aleppo, learn from Ar-Raqqa, there must be talks, there must be agreements, this war must end not in a blood bath but by agreements”.
14. Med shot, Egeland at podium
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“This is no Tsunami, it is a man-made crisis from A-Z. So the member states have to help us get the humanitarian lifeline continuing, 2 million people are served every month. That lifeline has to be expanded because there will be new people in need, because there is some fighting happening continuously and finally there has to be protection of civilians, including hospitals and others”.
16. Med shot, Egeland at podium
17. Med shot, Egeland at podium
18. Med shot, journalists

STORYLINE:

As Syria long-standing war appears to draw to an end, the UN’s top humanitarian advisor for the country said that diplomacy must play its role to avoid further civilian bloodshed, and that the conflict “must end not in a bloodbath but by agreements.”

Jan Egeland, the Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told journalist in Geneva today: “We are entering a new chapter in this very long, very bloody, very cruel, very bitter war in Syria. Hopefully we are seeing the beginning of the end to the big war,” adding that “the one remaining tremendous worry is Idlib, or rather the North West, because it is the province of Idlib - an adjacent armed opposition group area --that are (sic) of our deepest concern”.

“The war cannot be allowed to go to Idlib,” Egeland said, explaining that the area is “a very special place, it is the place where people fled” for their lives.

Located near the border with Turkey, Idlib province is one of the last major rebel strongholds in Syria. Syrians have fled to Idlib province from other parts of the country as the government troops have advanced. According to the United Nations, an military offensive on Idlib could displace up to 2,5 million people towards the Turkish border. There are already 3,5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Egeland noted that “this area is screaming for diplomatic solutions, it is yearning for the best diplomats, the best military negotiators to sit down between each other and come to agreements, knowing that there wouldn’t be another Idlib to be evacuated to. This is where it should end with peaceful negotiations and agreements.”

Calling on the UN member states, Egeland said that “we will push Russia, Turkey, Iran, which are the ‘Astana-3’ that have big influence, all three of them, in Idlib, as well as western countries, Gulf countries, who also have influence with armed opposition groups there to say: Learn from Eastern Ghouta, learn from Aleppo, learn from Ar-Raqqa, there must be talks, there must be agreements, this war must end not in a bloodbath but by agreements”.

The UN diplomat said the scenario that needs to be avoided at any cost is the big war coming to the civilians areas of Idlib province.

Egeland said “If we say there are 4 million people altogether, you can safely assume that 3 million of these million are women and children.”

He stressed that among the “remaining million” men in the area, only “a small minority” could be considered “terrorists”, and that “it would be no excuse for sending the war to Idlib that there are some people on terrorism lists there”.

Special Advisor called for the member states “to help us get the humanitarian lifeline continuing, 2 million people are served every month. That lifeline has to be expanded because there will be new people in need, because there is some fighting happening continuously and finally there has to be protection of civilians, including hospitals and others”.